IPAC Threatens Boycott as PDP is Excluded from Ballots in Plateau North Re-run

Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has threatened that all parties in Plateau State would withdraw from participating in tomorrow's re-run election in Plateau North Senatorial zone and Jos North/Bassa federal constituency following the exclusion of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the ballots.

But the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party have reacted to IPAC’s position, stating that they would not withdraw from the contest, and described IPAC’s action as throwing caution overboard.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had yesterday defended the exclusion of PDP from the ballots in the re-run election, saying the disqualified party and its candidates were not fit to participate in the polls.

According to the INEC National Commissioner in charge of the North-Central geopolitical zone, Mohammed Haruna, during the inspection of sensitive materials for the elections, in Jos, the commission held a meeting with political parties where it told them that disqualified parties and candidates would not participate in the election.

“We had a meeting with political parties right before now and told them that in a rerun, disqualified candidates and political parties cannot participate.

“This is an established law. The Supreme Court has ruled about it in Labour versus INEC several years ago and the PDP was a beneficiary of this several years ago.

“INEC is a law-abiding institution. We never flaunt any law. We called a meeting of all political parties on this subject.

“The PDP went to court and the Federal High Court declined jurisdiction, what that simply means is that the ruling by the Court of Appeal subsists, and we have to obey the court, our hands are tied by the court in this regard.

“What the court said is what we are going to do whether it is right or wrong unless it is set aside,” he maintained.

But reacting to INEC’s position, IPAC in the state through its chairman, Abubakar Dogara, said, “The position of IPAC is that it is either PDP participates in the election or all parties will not take part because the Court of Appeal said all political parties should participate in the election.

“We noticed that one of us is not on the ballot papers and, therefore, we sat down and agreed that an injury to one is an injury to all, therefore, if PDP is not participating, no political party will participate.

“INEC during its meeting did not inform us that one of us would not be part of the elections. We were told that the list of parties that will take part in the election would be forwarded to us within a week, that was on the 9th of January but we never got that list till now, just two days to the election.

“We prefer peace on the Plateau rather than elections or anything. We know how fragile the issue of peace is on the Plateau, we are trying to avert anything that will take us to the doom days,” he stressed.

But APC in a press statement said IPAC is on its own on the matter as it does not hold the same position.

The statement signed by APC Publicity Secretary in the state, Sylvanus Namang, stated that, “For the avoidance of doubt, APC hereby totally and unequivocally dissociates itself from the position of IPAC which is purportedly given on behalf of all political parties in the state.”